Esther | Michael Manasco | Week 11

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 5pm or Wednesdays at 7pm if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, you can find us [email protected] be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast, Madison Church of Christ Sermons. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you. [00:00:37] Speaker B: So all right, we're going to continue tonight, and I wanted to do tonight a little differently, but I wanted to get to this point. We'll see if it works. But chapters five, six and seven sort of go together and we're going to read through a lot of that tonight, at least five and six, and do sort of a summary of sort of what's happening. Because I wanted to spend so much time on the setup of the first half of Esther, because to me it's all about setting up dominoes that we're about to start knocking over very quickly. Okay, And I want to start I've tried to share something each week, you know, from history, and a different one I found that I think is interesting confirms some of what Esther's dealing with tonight. I really want us to think about that theme of Esther being more than a pretty face and knowing her way around the castle. She knows politics, she knows culture. She had to. And Heraclitus of Cumae, another historian contemporary who wrote something called Persica, observed about the Persian king Xerxes. All who attend upon him when they dine first bathe themselves and then serve in white clothes and spend nearly half the day in preparations for dinner. Of those who are invited to eat with the king, some dine outdoors in full sight of anyone who wants to look. Others dine indoors with the king, yet even they do not eat in his presence. For there are two rooms opposite one another one is the king has his meal and the dinner guests in the other. The king can see them through a curtain covering the door, but they cannot see him. Sometimes, on the occasion of a public holiday, all dine in one room with the king in the great hall. That's Esther one. Okay. And whenever the king orders a drinking party, which he does often, that's Esther. Everything else he has about a dozen companions in the symposium or more. That's his friends when they have finished dinner. That is the king by himself. These drinking companions are summoned by the eunuchs. They enter, they drink with him, but they have lesser wine than him. They sit on the floor while he reclines on a couch set on gold feet. Let's remember that when we get to 6 and 7. Esther knows this very well, and they depart after drinking to excess. King eats alone in the morning, but sometimes his wife and some of his sons dine with him. Then, throughout the dinner, the concubines sing and play the lyre or dance for his amusement. And that tells us a lot about what we saw in Esther. Right. And it also tells us a little bit about how Xerxes breaks protocol. One other note from Plutarch, who was a later writer that was reading the Annals of the King. When the Persian kings have their dinner, their lawful wives may sit beside them during dinner and eat with them. But when the kings want to divert themselves and drink, they send them away and have music, girls and concubines come. They have a right to do so, as they do not want to involve their wedded wives in such debauchery. So, once again, a reminder how Xerxes broke his own protocol with Vashti. Now, Esther understands this, and I want us to think about this dining protocol a little more deeply as we get closer to these banquets. As we see, Xerxes is a man of tradition, but a man of contradictions, right? He's a fan of. In some ways, let's remember, he is the king, but he is also, as a Persian king, they are all subject to the boundaries of protocol we've talked about. They're somewhat subject to their own laws. Okay, so tonight, just a review of a few things. And as Esther goes before the king, we talked a little last week about the things they had to know. Esther had to know. Dining proximity is important. Again, I could look at other sources, but I want to kind of move on to the text. But a lot of confirmation of where you sit matters next to the king, even the wife of the king. So Esther has to be careful about how she plans the banquet, as it could be seen as an insult and end it right there. The dining guests again, Heraclitus, Xenophon in his book called Cyropedia. You can get that. There's a copy online, actually, free access, I think. But it talks about the legacy of Cyrus and more details about this when we talk about the guests and who may eat with them and which wives can eat with him. But who has to be called. Even the vizier had to be called. That's important. We see in the text. Again, these things confirm the Bible's validity. The second part are the laws of reciprocity. We have to remember the king himself is somewhat bound. If he does allow someone to come to him, he kind of has to give him a favor. Right? But you also had to be careful what you asked him. Even if you followed protocol and, and you asked him of too much, he would often say, up to half my kingdom. But it was really a metaphor. There is an instance of Xerxes doing that to someone. A guy takes him up on the offer, he gets offended by it and has the guy killed off screen. Right? So it's the kind of thing where he's like, you know what I meant, right? You didn't get cheeky with the king. So it was nervous, it was nerve wracking. Esther was faced with an unwinnable situation. That's how the king wanted it. The expectations, even Josephus, the Antiquitatus Judicae. We can see that he's a first century writer. But I wanted to mention Josephus because he's one of the proofs, just as an aside that he often in his writings will say, as read in the Annals of Persia, because at that time, even though most of them had been destroyed, not all of them had been destroyed. It's another proof that even though we can't read them all, so the Annals of the King that Xerxes reads in chapter six did exist. We have proof. But I digress. So we looked last week. I think we only read like the first eight verses of five. And I wanted to finish the chapter. But the main points I want us to remember. There's an image of one of the scepters found by King Darius, buried in the cornerstone of Persia, of Persepolis. Esther chose, we remember it was important in the first part of chapter five that she entered and Xerxes had to answer, mercy or death. And we talked a little about why he might show mercy. Right? There's a few things in history and again, Providence is the answer. God put them where they needed to be. But again, I have a problem with it sometimes stopping there. I don't like to imagine God as a fairy godmother. I don't like to put him in a box and say, well, he just did it. I mean, he did. But again, we're selling him short. Anybody could do something. It's not the Magic trick. I want us to be careful. It's not. Well, he changed his heart and he made him do it. That's not power, really. That's a. A tyrant God, he doesn't do that. God is fair. Because if God did that, honestly, he wouldn't be who he says he is. No, no. God plays a long term chess game, right, where everything is in place. That theology of place we talked about last week, it matters where you are and when you are. It's not yours to ask why, but you're there because he wants you there. You're the piece on the board that needs to be where they are. So we saw us go through that. We saw a little diagram here where we know that Esther would have gone from the harem hall. Kind of a diagram here, overlay. She would have had to go out the gates to do what she needed to do. Had she used the women's access to the court, she probably would have been killed immediately. In history, we see evidence of that happening. Assassins, sometimes they would hire or sneak women in to try to kill the king. She had to go out, take the long way. She went the processional way that every other visitor would to go through all the courts. So that, that's telling. Xerxes. I'm here on business, right? And Xerxes has to say, okay, this is awkward. Okay. We looked at him talking about the requests again. The king was expected to show favor again. We have a lot. One thing I wanted to mention again about again, even if you did things the right way, you might die. There was an account of one of his friends called Megabyzus. And they went hunting, okay, Xerxes and Megabyzus. And protocol was he was allowed to help him on his horse, but that was it. They went hunting lions. And the king wanted to kill it, but he missed with a javelin. The lion was charging Xerxes. So Megabyzus history records he ran forward and killed the lion. Xerxes thanked him. He didn't actually. That's not what happened. He gets angry at him and says, that was mine to kill. How dare you do that? He says, I just saved your life. And he orders him killed. But Megabyzus runs and he goes on the run and he tries and begs and he eventually gets back in the king's graces because it mentions the queen that told him to have mercy on him. Don't know which queen, but there's a historical story there. So even if you did the right things, you couldn't win. Right? But if Esther could. If she could just get him in the right place, she might have a shot. That shot was God, of course, Providence. So in four, eight, we quickly read over. Notice that it says in four to eight, we said that Haman is called to the king. He says, bring Haman. So that's protocol. If Haman had come in, he'd have probably been wrong. He says, haman, come in. Esther says, I want you to bring Haman. I have a request. And then we mentioned in those eight verses, she says, I want to have a banquet for you. If you'll grant my favor, it's to throw you a banquet. And that first banquet we find out is to get them so she can ask about another one. That's Persian culture, too. That has Xerxes intrigued. This is her saying this. They would often do this. This is the butter you up banquet. And I'm telling you, I want you to take this seriously. By the way, I'm going to throw another wine party tomorrow. That's great. Xerxes is all in for that, but this is a signal. And again, this is Providence. Esther has been a queen for five years. She knows I have to do this perfectly. I have to break some rules maybe, but we're going to bend them and try not to break them. And banquet two is when she comes through with the request. So I asked you a question last week, just hypothetically, why even bring Haman to this banquet at all? And a few things came up and Craig mentioned in the back, he mentioned to give him some rope to hang himself, which is funny, because it's true, in a way she is. And Esther is being very smart here. And I want us to get. When we get to the end here, I submit to you that she very much knew protocol and knew the only way to really win here was to get Haman to, quote, hang himself. And she does. She gets him to mess up in just the right way. But a few things historians say, and these are things that historians say because Esther knew about his other women. She would have. Because she lived through the events. We can look in history. It's easy to say. The biggest theory is that maybe she just wanted them alone because, let's face it, she's playing on Xerxes insecurities as a man. Not just because men do this or women do this. It's more that she knows he's that kind of man. She knows he's very easily insulted. If I get him drunk, I could make him go one of two ways. He's either going to get Very violent. He may get very upset. But, you know, she gets him and Haman isolated. Some historians will say that maybe it's to get jealousy. Why does she want Haman here? Because we have other accounts of him getting jealous every time another man was nearby. He just would get angry. And you can see her. No, I want you and Haman there, both of you. You're royal vizier, right? And you have to think he's getting a little in his cups, maybe thinking, maybe. So I don't know. I don't want to speculate too much, but. But we do know that other accounts in history we won't go into tonight. Xerxes had other times where he had other people killed, men killed, for even looking at where the harem was. Okay? It's crazy. Herodotus talks about this as well, all these documents. And in chapter six, when we get there, he can't sleep. Okay? That's something people have submitted. Is that God? Maybe it is him getting up, saying, what was that banquet about? Is she doing? Wait, is Haman looking at my wife? You know, that kind of. He was very much that kind of guy. The second reason historians may think this is true is because of sort of, not necessarily a relationship, a sexual relationship. But he was paranoid about assassinations as well. This wouldn't have been the first time a woman had gotten together with another noble, very Game of Thrones style, and gotten very War of the Roses type thing, if you're a history fan, gotten him isolated and killed a king. It's happened most of the Persian kings, I think all but one, one maybe died of old age. Most of them were assassinated. Okay? And most of them involved a eunuch or a woman because they didn't play their cards right. So, you know, planting a seed maybe. Hey, otherwise Haman's not necessary here, right? Think about that. Really think of that. Esther says, I want Haman there. There's multiple reasons, maybe, but she wants them there because she needs Haman taking out. And I think she knows that Xerxes doesn't know. Remember, Mordecai has the bill of sale. He comes here and says, I have the contract where Haman gave blood money to have our people killed. It's on record. I don't think Xerxes knows it's the Jews, so we don't know. Is he trying to kill them in Aramaic? I told you last week, something called the Targum, that's the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible, where they add some commentary that they add sort of a section that says, when Xerxes dreams. It's actually a dream about Haman trying to kill him. We don't know that, but I'm saying the conspiracies are real in his head. Okay, we know enough about him that he spent his time doing that. So the last thing I wanted to mention about that was that she's been queen long enough. And again, we know that the king ate alone with his wife or his mother. And the wife here typically meant the mother of his children. Now, Vashti has been put away, and his mother just died about three months ago in history, so. So maybe she's playing on the grief. I don't know. I'm just saying Esther knows how to use her wiles, and she's knowing how to get him in a place of vulnerability. He's grieving, he's upset about his empire and that sort of thing. Also, she knows if she can get the vizier Haman in the room, it's now a legal meeting, Right? If it's just him and Xerxes, he can say whatever he wants and deny it later. Right? It's a whole protocol here. So there's a few things to consider. So I want to pick up, and let's finish that chapter, if we pick up in verse nine. So after this, she says, I want you to come back tomorrow for another banquet, okay? And Haman's excited, right? Esther wants me to come back. The queen wants me. This is great. I thought she had, you know, how does she want me? This is awesome. So in verse nine, says, and Haman went out that day, joyful. This is after the first banquet and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, you can imagine him walking out the front, front door. He's happy, he's skipping. And there's Mordecai not bowing. Still, that Mordecai, right? Okay. He was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. Then Haman said, even Queen Esther let no one but me come to the king, to the feast she prepared. So tomorrow also, I'm invited by her together with the king, and notice what he says, right? And that's the thing. In Persia, your wealth was how many sons you had. Okay? So they would often say this, look at my sons, I am great. He's bragging on himself, right? And notice, he says, though, but I went out the gate and Mordecai wouldn't bow once again, if Haman, honestly. But God knows this, Haman's an easy mark. If Haman could have held off a little longer, if he hadn't been so superstitious and pagan to begin with, with the magi and the casting of lights, he might could have had Haman at all executed. If he hadn't have gone this far and let his rage. Because what did he say? Remember three chapters ago, he said, but I'm going to let it go. Mordecai didn't bow, but I want to know who his people are. It's beneath me to kill a man. But see, now he's getting a little confident, right? I'm invited to the queen's banquet tomorrow. I'm moving up. Because again, if we were in a banquet right now, and I was Xerxes and I had you all in here, you would come in to assign seating and you'd sit down going, oh, this is not looking good. So Ben, in the back, you know, not looking good back there, you know, you're getting closer, but if you're out there, the closer you get in, it's like, I'm moving up. Haman feels like he's done it, but he's counting his chickens before their hatch, right? The horse before the cart. But he's angry and he says this to his wife. So now we have Zeresh, his wife, Zeresh and all his friends. You never know. Every time something bad happens, it's always so and so and his friends, right? You get the boys around, right? It's just there are always these influences at a time when you just don't need them there. A time of familial reflection. But his friends are there. And Zeresh says, let a gallows 50 cubits high. By the way, that's 75ft if you need. That was on purpose. Make it tall so everyone sees. Don't just hang it, make a spectacle. Haman, he's loving this. His wife saying, do it, do it, do it, do it. Let a gallows 50 cubits high be made. And in the morning, tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it, then go joyfully with the king to the feast. This pleased Haman, and he had the gallows. And so, you know, he's still upset about all this. And he goes back and remember, the gallows are not A noose. We have to be graphic about this. But let's remember, this is the punishment they had in mind. A giant pole that they would impale the victim on. They didn't hang them by a noose. That would have probably been more merciful. Honestly, this was a horrible way to kill. The equivalents of a Roman crucifixion. As bad or worse. Okay, this is where the Romans got it from. This is really bad. And the intent was you did not die immediately. It took a long time to die. Okay, There was again, no need to do this. These punishments were reserved for military traitor criminals. Okay, Haman is going all out because he needs to make a point, right? Once again, the ego gets in the way. And that would be a very cruel death indeed. And that's something his wife has told him to do. I want us to turn to chapter six now. We're going to read some of this, and I want us to think about. This is where the insomnia strikes. So Haman is going home and he says, I'm going to do it. Let's build the galaxy. He has them built. That night. He lives in the vizier's house. He has the money and men. And he goes and says, this is where I'm going to have him killed and I'm going to go see the king. Okay, so chapter six. On that night, the king could not sleep, and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the Chronicles, it may say Annals in your book, in your translation. And they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Big Thana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs. Those are the two men Mordecai saw who guarded the threshold and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, what an honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this. Right? So he just learned it. What honor have we given this Mordecai? The king's young men who attended him said, let me stop there. By the way, does anyone else have a translation that doesn't say young men, eunuchs, or servants? And I will go back. So we have history for this too. Xerxes harem was made of about 300 women. And he mentions in historical sources about 200 men who played the part. We'll put it that way. Right. He had boys, he had men, eunuchs, made them all dress like women. So this was Xerxes morality, even for the Persians. He was debauchery so these were probably his servants with his annals. He would call them to attend to him and read him these annals, okay? So continuing, it Sundays, continuing, Verse 3, nothing has been done for him. And the king says, who's in the court now, right? Because you got to think he's up, right? He's up, he's reading, he has insomnia. And he's asking who's here to do this conveniently, right? Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him himself. And the king's young men told him, haman is here, standing in the court. And the king says, let him come in. Bring him in. Poor Haman. Again he rushes. He can't even wait till the morning, right? And God's doing this again. Providence. He knows this is Pharaoh, right? This is hardening Pharaoh's heart. This is knowing his audience and knowing, right? And let's remember, everything's in. It's not coincidence, it's providence, right? When God sent the plagues on Egypt, he didn't just do it to be mean. Every plague was the domain of an Egyptian God. If you go back and read it, he went piece by piece and said, you want the Nile, you worship the Nile. I'll turn it to blood, you know, Then I'll end it with Anubis, the God of death. And I will take your firstborn. God's making a point not to be cruel, but to say, I am the God of the universe. I made the gods you think are gods, right? You will bow before me. And that's what he's doing here, getting Haman in position. Because Haman is a man who is very ambitious in a negative, negative way. So he tells him to bring him in. So one thing we know here is that Haman is up. It's not quite morning. He's in the courtyard because there would be a line every day of a procession to see the king, right? You'd have people waiting to do all the boring stuff. What are we going to do? How much grain to do all this? So Haman's first in line. He's in the inner court, right? I'm waiting on Xerxes, and Xerxesus will bring Haman in. So. And we know when it says he ordered the Book of the Chronicles during his reign brought to him. We do have a lot of other legal records that say they did this. And I told you last week too, remember? One of the reasons history tells us he was nervous he would do this a lot because again, he's about to lose his job. He thinks, right, he's nervous. The empire's falling, his generals are dead. Everyone's. They're tired, right? I told you last week, the people are restless. He's emptying the coffers, right? The nation is getting poorer, and he's not showing. Right? He made campaign promises and never delivered. Right? So now he is nervous. And we have other times where he did this as well. So moving on to 6 to 10. Let's read some of that there. Verse 6. So Haman came in and the king said to him, what should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Haman. And don't you love the vagueness here? Because you know what? You ever catch this? I hope you have. Because what does Haman do when Haman goes to Xerxes with his plan to get revenge on the Jews? Does he walk in and say, hey, the Jews are being uppity. We need to do something? He doesn't remember the language. Hey, Xerxes, it's just business. Don't worry about it. Usual stuff. I'll handle it. I'm your vizier. You stay in your cups. You keep drinking. I know you have problems with Vashti, Esther, but there's a people causing problems. You may take care of it. Yeah, go ahead. Right. Oh, he tried. He tried to misdirect him, but your sins will find you out. My grandmother always said, right, your sins will find you out. And that's what Haman's having done. God's saying, oh, I'm going to get you. You're going to dig your own grave. You're going to hang yourself. So Haman comes in. What should be done, Haman, to a man who delights the king? How should I honor them? Haman says, whom would the king delight to honor more than me? To himself? He's thinking, it's got to be me. Right again. Haman assumes he must mean me. I did it. Esther invited me to the banquet. The king is happy with me. I'm going to have so much power, I don't know what he's thinking. I'm going to be raised up. Haman said to the king, for the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn. Now, pay attention to that. That's a Persian precedent as well. And the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. Let them dress the man who the king delights to honor. Let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. And the king said to Haman, hurry. Then take the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so to Mordecai, the Jew who sits at the king's gate. Oh, and leave out nothing that you mentioned. Don't forget, don't cheap on him. Right. You have to imagine. Talk about a record scratch. Right, Haman, Wait. What? You know, second thought. No, no, take it back. That's a good suggestion, Haman. And don't leave anything off. And he says, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Reading on there. Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. Haman hurried to his house, mourning with his head covered. Haman told his wife, now he's running to his wife and his friends, tells them everything that happened to him. Boo hoo hoo. Right, Time to boo hoo to the family. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh, his loyal wise men. These are the corrupt Magi. And his wife. Zeresh said to him, and I love this line from Zeresh, because you have to fill. Zeresh knows her history. And she says, oh, if Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall, Mordecai is a Jew. You almost get that. She didn't know that. Right? Because he tells. He knows he's a Jew, but you never see her. Really? Tell Zeresh, really. It says, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him. What's Zeresh referencing? House of Agag. Right. This is bad. Bad mojo. Right? Now the superstition comes in. Uh oh, and Haman's got to be like you said to do it. Right? Too late now. Right. Says, whoop, we're done. So we see that and Haman's impatience here. You'll notice I've made a point. He doesn't wait. And the traditional gifts of high honor that were awarded to Persians. We have lots of references. I'll just look at one I thought was interesting. I don't know what I did with it now, but it's one that references. Cyrus had established that the man who honors the king the most receives a horse, a robe, a tiara or a crown. Right. Would be placed on the horse. Sometimes the man and also a sword okay, it doesn't mention sword here when we get to Mordecai. But this was a common thing. Now, a robe was one thing, but we have precedent. Haman says a robe the king has worn, he is asking for the highest honor. This is a Purple Heart. This is the highest honor a Persian king can give. Because if the king wore it, if you remember a few weeks ago, I showed you the coronation ritual they would go through and the king would go and wear rags to the coronation capitalist of Pascarde. Pasargarde was the palace. He would get down to a ceremony and he would change out of the robes of the horsemen, the nomadic peoples, their roots, and put on the royal purple robe of the king. And that robe was the robe Cyrus wore. And they passed it down to Darius, to Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes. And so to wear the robe of the king was a big deal. Only one other time did Xerxes do this in history. And it was sort of as a joke. He gave it to a friend of his who was traveling with him who had torn his clothes. And he told him he could wear one of the robes he wore. And he did. But the guy wore it to court and Xerxes was furious, and so he had him killed. Right? But again, Xerxes did that. So Xerxes dug his own grave again. So you have some salt in the wound here, right? He says, don't neglect anything you've mentioned. Robe, horse, public display. Do the whole thing. And you remember, Persian sources tell us they would give him something called. It was a dagger of some kind or a weapon. And, you know, every Persian boy was taught tell the truth, to ride a horse and shoot a bow. This was part of that. You had a weapon, you had a horse. And the tiara was a signifier of truth, because who is truer than the king, Right? Xerxes. But they would do that and say, you're right, you're right. This guy saved my life. It's time for me to show the people I'm a magnanimous leader. I'm not just a warmonger. I'm strong and merciful. Yes, yes, Haman, good. So we see that robe worn by the king. I just mentioned that about the coronation ritual again. There was another time I forgot. There were two times a man named Artabanus, which, when Xerxes became king, when they were pondering the Greek invasion, this might be the funniest story to me, because when they were pondering going to war, he had dreams he couldn't sleep about this might not go well. And he called his friend Artabanus and he made him wear his robes and crown and sit on the throne and said, you sit here and see how hard it is to be me, right? And he made him sit there overnight. And he did. And he thought, this is hard. I don't want to be kidding. And he made him do that and took the robes back. And ironically, it would be Artabanus in history, in 465, that takes a eunuch and kills Xerxes in his sleep, okay? He assassinates him because he had had it. But again, Xerxes hung himself as well. He keeps these wrong people next to him. So we had those kinds of things happen. So in 1114, there we see Zeresh talk about this. We see Zeresh saying, the people have found their God again. And this is the structure I showed you last time, that chiastic structure. We see everything coming together. Event happens, event happens, event happens, event happens back and forth. I know it's kind of small to read, but at this point in the story, everything's like a mirror, right? Haman's insomnia leads to his own dishonor, right? The king's insomnia leads to uploading, raising up Mordecai. So everything is a rhyming pattern. And God is bringing us closer and closer to what we call a checkmate in chess, right? He's doing this by the book. And when Haman dies, it's going to be not because of accident, it's because Esther's in the right place. So we have this sort of set up now for our big moment, right? Sort of the summary of what we've seen. So Esther7, I want to kind of crack that open in the moments we have. I know we're kind of quick, but 5 and 6 kind of have these quick beats. Because now from here on, everything's a house of cards falling down, right? If there was one theme to Esther 7, it would be these verses, right? Wicked brought down by their wickedness. The Lord is known by his justice. The wicked are ensnared by the works of their hand. Evil will slay the wicked. We've heard these verses, but this is God saying, I wasn't just saying pretty words. You will hang yourself. Vengeance is. Is the Lord's in recompense. And it's not Esther doing this. It's not Mordecai. This is God. Esther and Mordecai are allowing themselves to be agents here. So I want to go ahead and read some of seven in the time we have. So now that we have, Haman is upset. The gallows have been built. So the next morning happens at the end of six where the king's eunuchs arrive and bring Haman to the feast. That's important too. Notice Esther has. They have the eunuchs go. This is kind of important. The king and Haman went to the feast with Queen Esther. And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, now, what is your wish, Esther? Now, this is the wine feast, right? So now we're on day two, second part of the wine. He's good and tipsy. And this is where, Esther, it shall be granted to you. What is your request? It's you, me and Haman. I shall fulfill it. Then Queen Esther answers in 3. If I have found favor in your sight, see how she does different than Haman. Haman kind of says, oh, well, I think you should give the man this. Esther knows protocol. Xerxes again. If I have found favor in your sight, O King, if it pleases you, the king, let my life be granted me for my wish and my people for my request. That has to prick Xerxes up. My people, Xerxes doesn't know she's a Jew. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, to be annihilated. If we had been just sold as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent. For our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king. Think about that. What's she telling him as it's Dani on Xerxes, his loss is going to be what his queen, if she's a Jewish. And now he's thinking, you have to remember the Jews were a large number. They had their own satrap to the west, but they were scattered throughout the empire. They're one of the few peoples we have historical record. There's not a state or satrap or province. You could go the Jews. So if you wipe out the Jews, you're wiping out a large amount. Even if Haman is to give that money. This is not what Xerxes intended. Then King Ahasuerus Xerxes said to Esther, who is he? Where is he who has dared to do this? I think of David, you know, when he's talking to Samuel, like which man? Who sent this man to the front, who killed this lamb when they had what's you, David? But says, who is he who has dared to do this? And Esther says, you can imagine her pointing A foe, an enemy, this wicked Haman. Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. And the king arose in his wrath from the wine drinking and went to the palace garden. But Haman stayed to beg for his life from the queen. He had determined that harm was determined him by the king. He knows he's done. And the king returns from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was, which may be my favorite darkly comedic verse in the Bible, because this is Esther winning, okay? And the king said, will he even assault the queen in my presence in my own house? As word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. That's a bag over the face. Harbona, one of the eunuchs, says, moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, don't you love how quickly he says, by the way, he's built some things for Mordecai, the guy who saved you. Xerxes says, hang him on that. That's what my translation says. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated. See how quickly that happens? Haman's. In an instant, it goes away. And when he executes Haman, his wrath fades. Now, there's a few things I wanted to note tonight. This wine portion we see in the first part of chapter seven, Esther reveals here. This is the big reveal she's hoping. Have I done a good job? Right? Got him set up. She's telling him, yeah, Haman forced you to sign this. He misdirected. He tricked you, okay? Trying to get him to know what happened. Xerxes knows what he did, but she's telling him, I'm a Jew, right? This is me. I'm your queen. You said you love me most, right? You picked me. I've been loyal. You said you loved me most. This is Xerxes moment. He's frustrated. He gets up and leaves, right? You see him storm out the. Because he knows he's caught. Once a king makes a decree, he cannot undo it, right? How will they get out of this? That's where Esther and Mordecai come in. Chapter eight can't undo it, but she can ask for a shot to defend themselves. She says, grant me my life. Spare my people. Xerxes surprised this adversary, enemy vile Haman. Xerxes again leaves in the rage. He sees his fate. And Haman begs for his life. And this is where I definitely want to close in the last few minutes because I submit to you that again, this is God's providence coming true. This is Esther paying attention for five years as a queen. Three more years being forced to take tonics to be clean enough for a man she didn't love, to be forced to do things she didn't want to do. She remained faithful and said, I'm going to stay this out. And Mordecai convinces her, do this for our people. And she does. And at the end, she's plotting. Scheming isn't the right word. I think that's an evil word. She's plotting, she's planning. She's gone through protocol. And yes, she's got them, but she knows she needs to have Xerxes come through. She points out Haman and notice how Haman goes quickly from vizier to beggar. And this is Esther's final move, that theology of place. Esther knows who she is, when she is, and where she is. Because there's one thing we don't often talk about in the study of Esther, and this may be my favorite bit of Esther, which maybe is one of the reasons I wanted to teach this class, because there's some nuggets from Persian history that tell us what Esther's doing here. Because, you see, even though the men had the power in these situations and King Xerxes was in control, Esther knew protocol and protocol was king. Esther ensures she is reclining. And the moment she lays back on the couch, she's on the couch. The king would lay back on the couch. Only the royals. Esther's turn to invoke this. We have images of the king back. It's hard to see here, but we have in Esther 1 the King's Banquet. In Esther 7, right now, it's something called the queen's banquet. And this is the true checkmate moment. Esther is throwing something called the sofre. That is a modern banquet held by Iranian and certain sects of Persian descendants today called the sofre agada, which is a wedding feast. It's for the woman who throws a feast for her king to be. Feeds them. For that moment, they're in charge and the husband is submitting. It has a modern lead. At that time, this was the only time a queen really had power, right? So in this moment, she's throwing this banquet to invite the king and the vizier. It's called a sofre. This is protocol in that moment, where she is master of the feast, not Xerxes. In this moment, in this Place. Esther has one shot to wield her privilege. Because you see in the Persian language, the one who was reclining, it wasn't the king of the feast. The reclining royal of the feast was the term used. That was you in that moment. Who's reclining on there? Esther. She's giving Xerxes. And out here, too, in this moment. This is Esther's banquet. Xerxes and Haman are attending. One thing you did not do in the banquet is touch the couch. You didn't approach them, and you certainly didn't throw yourself on them. In this moment, Esther lays herself vulnerable, knowing Haman is upset. Xerxes leaves. She times it just right. Isn't it convenient he comes back in uninvited and that's our checkmate, right? He comes in. And if it's your spouse, guys, I'm sorry, you know, if you're man or woman, if you're a woman and came in and saw this happening to your husband, the earrings are probably coming out, right? And the sleeves are coming up. If you're a man and this is happening, your sleeves are coming up. You can imagine Xerxes as a royal, as a husband, seeing this man accosting Esther. Esther suddenly helpless on the couch, right? Just as he comes in, you can imagine Haman pleading in her ear as she has to have said to him, gotcha, right? And in that moment, he's done. Xerxes comes in at that moment, and again. Royals could recline. Guests had to sit. Haman was on the couch. That was a death sentence. She gets Xerxes out of breaking protocol. He gets to kill two birds of limestone, take out Haman, take out his vizier, keep his wife happy and save her people. Will he even molest the queen while she's with me in my house? In some ways, this is Xerxes mine. And notice how quickly snaps them up, get them out. And who was they? The guards. Who were they? You remember? Who were the people that attended Esther? The eunuchs. This is why God uplifts the oppressed. Who did he put in this moment? Esther's in power, and her guards, the only men allowed to be with her, who go back to Esther, too. It says that they loved her the most. She respected them, she treated them well. Look how quickly the eunuchs make sure to turn. And they say, back in Esther 2, 15 won favor of all who saw Esther. And in Persian culture, the only ones that could see her unless he invited her to court was Xerxes. And the eunuchs, she had the eunuchs on her side. The eunuchs were at the feast. The eunuchs had the swords, right? And I love how quickly Harbona the eunuch, tells Xerxes in a moment, by the way, he built one. Shall we use it? Isn't that interesting, though? They're on Esther's side. She's inspired them. She's a woman, she is in power. But they know she does not have power except in this moment. The eunuchs do as well. Everyone who's a servant in that palace sees Esther in that moment as their queen. Haman intends that for Mordecai, and I love that. Harbona says Haman built these, by the way. It's to kill the guy who spoke up for you. Just to make sure. Haman swings the axe. Xerxes does it. So Xerxes orders Haman's execution on the gallows, and he immediately subsides his anger. So Haman is placed upon the poles. He is crucified effectively. And that's where our story ends tonight. So I hope you'll see. Think about questions and comments you may have for next time, but I want you to read chapter eight. As we're getting there, we have two more classes. Haman is dead and Esther's been so strong. But eight is going to open with finally, you can feel Esther collapsing and weeping, because now what are we going to do? Right? And now we see Mordecai and Esther have the king's ear entirely, and they get to use protocol once more to defend themselves. Thank you, everyone. I'll see you next week.